#TogetherThursday is a weekly resource blog that was created by CA Hands & Voices Advisory Board Member Leslie Manjarrez out of the early shelter in place period.
This blog is tailored to highlight free resources and topics to parents of Deaf/Hard of Hearing children through videos, articles, links to further reading, activities and more. #TogetherThursday has grown to feature monthly themes that have included Deaf Awareness, School Readiness, Deaf LGBTQ+, and Seasonal DHH supports.
Please reach out to suggest future topics, resources and individuals to feature! Contact us: IG/FB or email.
Ms. Leslie looks forward to hearing from you!
Hello Friends!
Happy New Year! We hope that this new year for you and your family is filled with everything you hope for.
To close out this month on school guides, we come across one that is shared straight from the Hands & Voices website: the PARC Checklist.
This is called the “Placement and Readiness Checklists for Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing”
This guide has everything from how a child may be doing in a GenEd environment, to different language modalities and their estimated proficiency.
This checklist may support you as a parent and a team in figuring out what works best for your child.
What works for your child is what is best for them, and your child is unique in their own way, these guides are simply a way to highlight what everyone on your team sees in one place.
What's your favorite guide that has helped you and your school team guide your child with their educational program?
Guide #3 found here:
https://tinyurl.com/DHHGuide3
We can, together,
Ms. Leslie
#HappyNewYear #TogetherThursday #DeafEd #Schools #SchoolYear #SchoolGuide #DeafStudents #DeafKidsRock
Hello Friends!
As we welcome a new year with new challenges and the ups and downs of life this month will be focused on readings for Parents.
There is A LOT of reading for parents, from CA Hands & Voice’s own Communicator to books and articles from the Medical Community: https://www.handsandvoices.org/resources/communicator.htm
Here on #TogetherThursday we’ll start out with two writings from parents in the general community of children with Disabilities.
There is an essay/poem that you may or may not have come across yet that is often shared with parents, that I will here called, “Welcome to Holland”
In the world of DHH and of children who have differences, we all speak of life and the path we all walk together as a Journey. One which most parents who are part of having a DHH child (and one with other differences) where not expecting to take. This poem gives analogy and feeling from a parent perspective about that shift that you take:
https://www.dsasc.ca/.../3/9/8539131/welcome_to_holland.pdf
There is a lot of discussion about this essay/poem as well, which discusses the difference in looking at everything through a certain lens, one of gifts or of constant positivity and naming that things can also be hard.
This is also valid, this journey that we’re on comes with a lot of work, parents put in the most work, they’re the people who raise our DHH children and manage to piece together every professional’s thoughts and perspectives over the course of the child’s life. There are also many challenges that come up within that. That perspective is here:
https://smithkingsmore.org/the-trouble-with-welcome-to.../
What is something that you’ve read as a parent that has had an impact for you and your family?
We can, together,
Ms. Leslie
Hello Friends!
CA Hands & Voices is here for you! Here we are closer and closer to Winter Break!
This month will be dedicated to sharing guides that can support you with these questions.
This guide discusses what the LRE could look like for your DHH child. Whats an LRE you ask? Its the Least Restrictive Environment. Its the placement in school where your child does best with the least number of supports to succeed independently. For DHH kids, sometimes whats considered “most restrictive” for other children, is where DHH children thrive.
One this is always constant: What works for your child is what is best for them, and your child is unique in their own way.
Whats your favorite guide that has helped you and your school team guide your child with their educational program?
We can, together,
Ms. Leslie
Hello Friends!
CA Hands & Voices is here for you! Can you believe we are half way through the traditional school year???
Many parents always ask: Where can we find what we need? How do we figure out what works best for my child? What can schools DO for my child?
This month will be dedicated to sharing guides that can support you with these questions.
What's your favorite guide that has helped you and your school team guide your child with their educational program?
We can, together,
Ms. Leslie
Hello Friends,
California Hands & Voices is here to support you and your family! This week has various celebrations including Hanukkah, Indigenous Peoples recognition and Thanksgiving. We hope that you and your family feel connected and honored with one another. In coming together with family, there is often the sharing of meals, recipes and passing down secret ingredients.
In the STEM lens, did you know that cooking is basically all Chemistry, Physics, Math and Literacy rolled into one? Throw in decorating while baking and its also Art!
- Take a look at this resource for some fun Food Science projects at home: Link
- For inspiration on some Math and Geometry, take a look at this account: Link
What kinds of food experiments are going on in your kitchen this holiday season?
We can, together,
Ms. Leslie
